Spurs ready for Jazz battle, and other notes from shootaround

SALT LAKE CITY — Personnel wise, the Utah Jazz have changed somewhat since Jan. 20, the last time the Spurs saw them last season.

Carlos Boozer, who tormented the Spurs for four games last season, is gone to Chicago. Up-and-comer Paul Millsap has replaced Boozer as the starting power forward, while former Minnesota All-Star Al Jefferson has taken Boozer’s spot on the roster.

Meanwhile, venerable Jazz coach Jerry Sloan won’t be on the bench for tonight’s game at Energy Solutions Arena while attending the funeral of a family fried. Lead assistant Phil Johnson will replace Sloan in role, if not in spirit.

Yet, despite those changes, the Spurs seem to know what to expect when the game tips off. Same old Jazz.

“It’s always a tough battle,” Spurs captain Tim Duncan said after this morning’s shootaround. “I don’t care if one team is playing well and one team is playing badly, it always ends up being a battle. It’s always going to be very physical. We know we’re in for a game every time we step into this building.”

The Spurs are out for a modicum of revenge tonight on the banks of the Great Salt Lake. Utah swept last season’s series in four games, the first time that had happened since 1993-94. Against that backdrop, Duncan goes for a milestone, needing 13 points to surpass David Robinson as the team’s all-time NBA scoring leader (if ABA numbers are included, Duncan is still about 3,000 points from catching George Gervin).

“It’s something you look at after you’re done playing and you appreciate it,” the 34-year-old Duncan said of his impending milestone. Right now, in the midst of it, it just means I’m getting old. It means I’ve played a whole lot of games.”

Duncan has played 987 regular-season games, to be exact, matching another of Robinson’s club records. He can break that one without scoring a single point tonight.

Here are some other notes from this morning’s shootaround:

* Spurs center/forward Matt Bonner, who had to leave Wednesday’s victory with back spasms, said he felt “good enough” to play tonight, and plans to give it a go. I’m no doctor, but the way he winced while bending over to pick up his bag after shootaround leads me to believe his availability will be questionable at best.

* Count Spurs coach Gregg Popovich among those surprised Millsap did not make the NBA All-Star ballot. The ballots are put together in October, and there is some question about Millsap’s role once Mehmet Okur returns from an Achilles injury, but Millsap’s hot start (21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds) does seem All-Star worthy.

Popovich –who called Millsap “one of the toughest covers in the league” — appears to believe the Utah forward might benefit from a little self-promotion.

“Maybe he’s got to yell and scream and beat his chest or something,” Popovich said sarcastically. “That’s not in him. He doesn’t bring attention to himself. Maybe in the world we live, that hurts you sometimes.”

* Manu Ginobili is looking forward to facing Raja Bell, who guarded him often during the epic Spurs-Suns playoff battles of last decade. Bell returned to the Jazz lineup Wednesday after missing one game with a groin injury.

* The Spurs are looking for the first 10-1 start in franchise history tonight. Also on the line: an eight-game winning streak that ranks as their longest since posting 11 consecutive victories from Feb. 11-March 6, 2008.